Atiku Fires Back at Presidency Over Drug Forfeiture Claims, Demands Facts Not Insults
- Atiku Abubakar hit back at the Presidency after it responded to his questions about President Tinubu's public records with personal attacks
- His spokesman, Phrank Shaibu, said the administration chose insults over accountability by devoting paragraphs to name-calling rather than addressing the core issues
- Atiku questioned whether Tinubu forfeited money to the US government over drug-related offences, insisting elections do not extinguish public accountability
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has rejected what he described as a coordinated campaign of personal attacks from the Presidency, saying the administration's refusal to address questions about President Bola Tinubu's public records only strengthens the case for greater transparency.
Atiku's Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, issued the statement on Wednesday, July 23, 2026, in response to an earlier Presidency release that targeted the former Vice President directly.
Source: Twitter
Presidency accused of choosing diversion
A statement cited by Legit.ng on Thursday, July 23, Shaibu said the Presidency had responded to legitimate public inquiries with political mudslinging rather than factual answers.
"When governments abandon facts for insults and substitute evidence with abuse, they unwittingly admit that they have run out of convincing answers.
"Nigerians expected clarification. What they received instead was a barrage of name-calling and political invective," Atiku said in the statement.
The former Vice President pushed back against the suggestion that raising questions drawn from publicly available records amounted to an attack on Nigeria's sovereignty.
"No one has reported Nigeria to anyone. Nigeria is not on trial. The issue concerns questions arising from publicly available records relating to the occupant of the nation's highest office. Those records were not created by the opposition, the ADC, or any political actor."
Atiku also challenged what he called a contradiction at the heart of the administration's position, noting that a government actively courting foreign investment, international loans, and global ratings could not reasonably portray scrutiny from abroad as foreign interference.
"You cannot celebrate international validation when it is convenient and condemn international scrutiny when it becomes uncomfortable. Accountability is not foreign interference; it is a democratic obligation."
Elections do not end accountability
On the argument that winning an election settles all questions of conduct, Atiku was direct.
"Elections confer political authority, but they do not extinguish the public's right to ask questions. A democratic mandate is not a substitute for transparency, nor does it exempt any public official from the obligation to account to the people."
He closed the statement by spelling out the specific question he wants answered.
"The Nigerian people deserve answers, not insults. They want to know if their President forfeited money to the Government of the United States of America on account of drug related offenses. They deserve transparency, not diversion. Until those questions are addressed with facts, no amount of outrage or personal attacks will silence legitimate public inquiry."
Atiku urged the Presidency to set aside its combative approach and present the facts directly.
"If the government believes that the public record has been misunderstood or misrepresented, the appropriate response is to present the facts. Abuse cannot replace evidence, and propaganda cannot replace truth."
Atiku slams Tinubu over 2026 budget
Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that Atiku described the 2026 Federal Budget as the most brazen assault on transparency in Nigeria's democratic history.
The Service-Wide Vote in the 2026 Appropriation Act ballooned from ₦638 billion to ₦12.8 trillion, a near 1,918% rise in one year. Atiku demanded the National Assembly launch a line-by-line investigation into the allocations and asked who the workers earning ₦2.19 trillion in personnel costs are.
Source: Legit.ng
